Choice of Adityanath Signal of Coming Hindu Rashtra, Say CPM Leaders

HYDERABAD (IANS) — CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri on Sunday said that by making Yogi Adityanath the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP and its ideological parent the RSS have sent out a clear message that “they want to transform India into a Hindu Rashtra”.

It is also a clear message by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that the backward classes, minorities and other oppressed sections of society “will have to accept upper caste leadership”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said at a public rally here.

He also accused Yogi Adityanath of always speaking against the Muslim and the Dalits.

“This choice by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), executed by its political arm the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is a deliberate move which bodes ill for the state,” the CPI-M said in a statement.

“The selection of Adityanath has once again exposed the oft-repeated claim of Modi that development will be its main agenda. It makes a mockery of his own slogan ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’,” the CPI-M said.

“Adityanath is a known Hindutva fanatic who has a record of inciting communal violence, having a number of criminal cases pending against him. He also espouses extremely casteist views.”

“One cannot forget the fact that he has gone to the extreme of comparing Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan with Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed. He also tarnished the image of socio-cultural leaders ranging from Aamir Khan to Mother Teresa and also asked those reluctant to do ‘suryanamaskar’ to go to Pakistan.”

Vijayan said that at a time when the Ayodhya Ram temple issue was relegated to the background of Indian politics, Adityanath triggered a venomous communal campaign to bring it to the centre of BJP agenda.

“By making a person having criminal background the Chief Minister of the largest state, the message the BJP sends to the nation is that they will continue to try to capture power by resorting to communal riots,” the Chief Minister said.

He said only a party with sheer contempt for secularism and democracy can elevate such person as the Chief Minister. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Sunday criticized the BJP’s decision to make Yogi Adityanath the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and said it does not bode well for the people of the state.

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Addressing a public rally here, he said that in the wake of the results of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, many people expressed the opinion that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are undefeatable. He, however, did not agree with this.

He alleged that in Goa and Manipur, the BJP used undemocratic means to form governments despite clearly being the losers while in Punjab it finished fourth.

He said even in Uttar Pradesh, the share of BJP votes had come down to 39.7 per cent from its 42.3 per cent in 2014. Thus, more than 60 per cent people voted against the BJP.

The CPI-M politburo member said the BJP won by spreading communal hatred, through heavy injection of money and deploying entire central government machinery in the state. Pointing out that the opposition to the right-wing was not united, he remarked ‘we should not be led to believe that this victory is here to stay’.

“Even in the entire country in 2014, only 31 per cent voted for BJP which means close to 70 per cent of all voters do not agree with the politics of the BJP. It is more than clear that in the fight against communalism, people of India will win provided they stay together,” he said.

He slammed the Congress for not staking claim to forming governments in Goa and Manipur despite winning the largest number of seats. He also cited the examples of Congress leaders joining the BJP in various states.

“Historically there are plenty of instances where the Congress was soft to communalism and thus they have lost their identity. Those who once used to call themselves guardians of secularism are not even a force to reckon with now,” said Vijayan.

He went on to remark that the Congress has ceased to exist as political party as PR companies are taking political decisions for them.

He called upon people to be vigilant against the forces which pander to the right-wing.

“History has shown that any political party that goes soft on the right-wing was devoured by the right-wing itself. The Congress has dug its own grave and is no more a credible ally against communalism,” he added.

The CPI-M leader urged all democratic and progressive forces to come together to forge people’s alliance to defeat communalism and neo-liberalism, saying that the two were bedrock of all injustice, inequality and misery in the society.

CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri also underlined the need for unity among the Left and Dalit forces to strengthen people’s movement to achieve the goal of social justice.

The public rally was organised to mark the culmination of a 4,200-km-long ‘padyatra’ (walkathon) by CPI-M Telangana State Secretary T. Veerabhadram across the state to know about people’s problems.

Janata Dal (U) leader K. C. Tyagi said he was not surprised that the BJP chose to make Adityanath Chief Minister.

“It is very natural. No surprises here. Surprise would be his (Adityanath) not becoming the Chief Minister. We do not expect any good work coming from him,” Tyagi told IANS.

The Congress, on the other hand, maintained a more conciliatory attitude and said it will rather wait and watch whether the new incumbent makes good on his promises.

“It’s for the BJP to fulfill the promises they made during the campaign. If Adityanath delivers on his promises, working within the Constitution, then we will have no reason to fight with him,” Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told IANS.

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